Jamie Redknapp: Wayne Rooney's golden boot can fire us to World Cup glory

The stars of the world will gather. From Messi to Ronaldo, from Torres to Ribery. The Germans will be around, they always are, and Holland and Italy will also carry a threat from Europe. There will also be a challenge from Africa, this time in the form of the Ivory Coast. Well, would you want to face Didier Drogba?

But let's look closely at the team England are sending out there. Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are three players at the peak of their careers.

Class act: Rooney is Capello's trump card for the finals

The camp is fed up with the golden generation nonsense and talking up their chances.

'We will win the World Cup' is a boast greeted with derision, as well as reminders of past failings, penalty shoot-out defeats and players failing to deliver their potential.

There will be enough time to concentrate on the failings. The defeat to Brazil last month in Qatar when England played their reserves has left a feeling that we are well short. What it did show is how important it will be for our best players to be fit and well.

There won't be another player at the World Cup with the versatility of Rooney as a striker. He can play as the spearhead, he can come off the front and play in the pockets of space. Defenders have to decide if they track him into unfamiliar territory or give that responsibility to a deep-lying midfielder.

Important: England's Steven Gerrard

He presents challenges to a coach. You have to decide how to play him, but he is capable of moving across the pitch into so many different areas, right and left. England have to decide who will play alongside him. Fabio Capello has a preference for Emile Heskey, because he occupies a centre back, with Jermain Defoe arriving from the bench when legs are tired.

Peter Crouch and Carlton Cole are the other two hoping to make the plane, both offering some variety. At the last World Cup, England were short on striker options and so this time the manager needs to have alternatives. What if Rooney is injured or suspended?

The Manchester United striker needs to keep his cool, that's for sure. Teams will know he is coming and that he has a short fuse. He does seem to have struck up a relationship with Capello and there has been more calm about his play, without losing his impact. Capello has found a role for Gerrard, too. He starts on the left and has to go out there when the opposition full back has the ball, but he has the freedom to come inside and get on the ball as England's playmaker. France once played that way with Zinedine Zidane.

Gerrard doesn't look very happy at the moment, but that's because he has just come back from injury and is struggling to get on top of his game. I'm glad that's the case in December, rather than towards the end of the season.

There is a theory that the demands of the Premier League are not conducive to winning a World Cup at the end of a long, hard season, when our big clubs will have advanced into the latter stages of the Champions League. Liverpool 's absence from that competition might, conversely, help Gerrard.

Gerrard will score goals from midfield, as will Lampard, arriving late and coming from deep. The movement between Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard is crucial to England's impact. Between them, they will look to score 10 goals in the tournament for England to advance deep into the World Cup.

There is more to come from Joe Cole, who you think will have made his way back to good form. He offers a variety to Rooney and Gerrard, if injuries strike. The pace of Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott from wide is another string to the bow. The opposition full back might not know what is coming until he is suddenly faced with one of those two fliers coming at him.

So, you see, we shouldn't be too despondent. Realistic, yes. But this England team have nothing to fear and a lot to offer. We should be quietly confident.

You need six qualities to win a World Cup: 1. Your best players fit. 2. Avoid suspensions. 3. Perform to a high level. 4. A coach who can change tactics during a game. 5. The ability to score penalties. 6. Oh yes... and luck.